The fox with the eight tails
by joanamaria33
Summary: Death the Kid finds an injured nine-tailed fox on the streets and decides to take her home with him. Sadly this specific fox has only eight tails, but the biggest problem is the she really mistrusts humans. Somehow Kid manages to form trust between them and he is trying to teach her to trust his friends.
1. Chapter 1

_**"The fox with the eight tails"**_

 _ **chapter 1: Prologue**_

This happened a few years ago. Deep in the woods there was a family of foxes. But not the ordinary foxes you can usually spot in forests, but a family of magical nine-tailed foxes. It consisted of two adults and their young kits. The youngest of the kits was destined to become something great, but before that, she had to go through all types of nightmares.

On one particular day a group of men were walking through the forest, in search of rare or interesting animals. These men were not your average hunters- they had special weapons, made specifically for hunting magical animals. Today's goal was a nine-tailed fox. They soon came across a whole family of those. Today was a lucky day for the hunters, though the same definately cannot be said about the foxes.

Mama and Papa Fox heard a strange noise coming from behind the trees. Their kits did not hear anything and were just wandering what has gotten into their parents. In a blink of an eye, one of the hunters started to shoot at the creatures, scaring the babies as a result. The parents reacted immediately and tried to do their best to save their children- the father attempted to fight and the mother ran away together with the little foxes. They ran and ran, as fast as they could, but unfortunately it was not enough. Another hunter jumped right in front of them and he shot one of the four babies and making the mother furious as a result. Two other hunters appeared and reached to grab the rest of the kits. Unluckily for them Mama Fox bit their arms, leaving them bleeding. She barked to the kits, signaling them to find a place to hide. They never hesitated and ran, leaving their mother to fight on her own. The youngest fox was the most scared and just as heartbroken as the others. While the little foxes were running, they could heard the sounds of guns and fire in the distance- the parents were both still fighting the hunters, but with little success- the hunters' guns were being empowered with magic, that was absorbing the foxes' own powers, leaving them without much strength to fight. The kits finally managed to find a place to hide, but it was already too late, since one of the hunters found them. He fired with his guns mutliple times, aiming at the baby foxes and sadly he successfully killed almost all of them, with the only exception being the youngest. She was forced to see with her own eyes how all of her siblings were mercilessly murdered. The hunter fired again and he actually managed to hit the youngest, but the bullet failed to kill her, instead it just tore apart one of her tails, leaving her with eight only.

Now that was the final drop. Now the the young fox was really furious. She opened her mouth and started to growl at the hunter. Of course, he did not feel threatenned and prepared himself to shoot again, but this target was not that easy to shoot. The fox jumped and landed right in front of the man's face. She opened her mouth and flames came from it. She burned the man's entire face, but she did not want to finish here. Using claws and teeth, she tore his whole body apart, leaving him in the condition of a living corpse. The rest of the hunters heard the cries of agony and arrived to see a true horror. They could not believe what they were seeing. Right next to the remains of the man's body was the little kit standing and glaring him angrily. The other hunters immediately realised what most likely happened and filled with anger started to shoot at the fox, but this time they did not even scratch her. She did the same to them- the burned their eyes, moving as fast as possible and in the end all of the hunters were killed. Disgusted by the sight of these corpses in front of her eyes, the youngest fox burned them, leaving them as nothing but a pile of ashes.

From this day on, she was living the life of a "lone wolf" with a heart filled with hatred towards humans.


	2. Chapter 2

_**chapter 2: A few years later-This boy appears**_

It was a rainy night in Death city. The streets were totally empty and there was not a single being around, no matter in which direction you look at. There was only one shadow of a boy holding an umbrella and walking around.

This boy was Death the Kid, the son of lord Death himself. He was just going home, until a strange sound caught his attention. At first he decided to ignore it, thinking it was probably just a cat, but then he heard it again. The next sound was stronger and out of curiosity he finally decided to check where it comes from.

The sound led him to a bunch of waste containers. At first he saw nothing, but then a shadow passed and he looked down to see what it was. He saw just a black paw and a little muzzle from behind one of the containers. He stepped a little closer and right then a fox jumped right in front of him, growling and hissing. She did not physically attack him, but by the look of it, she was probably going to .

He took the chance to analyze her a bit. He looked at her body. He saw that this not an ordinary fox, but a mystical nine-tailed fox, although this one was seriously wounded. Blood was spilling from her hind leg and he also noticed the peculiar number of her tails- as the name of the species implied, it was supposed to have nine tails, but this only had eight. He found this case to be quite interesting. He kneeled before her and and looked her in the eyes. The action itself confused the fox a little, since she was not used to such sights (a human being showing peaceful attitude, despite that Kid is actually a Death god who just looks like a human), but it did not hesitate her enough to prevent her from to keep on the growling and the hissing. Kid was a little confused why she was acting so aggressively towards him. Considering how she looked like, it was not that hard for him to come to the conclusion that she must have had a terrible experience with humans. In order to calm her down he tried to talk to her calmly:

\- "Hey, calm down! I am not your enemy. Relax!"

He even reached his hand towards her to pat her head, but she almost bit him. It was so obvious that this fox has been though a lot. He felt sorry for her and really wanted to help her with these wounds, but she will not let him even touch her. He spoke to her again:

\- "Why did you do this? I told you I am not your enemy. I want to help you. You cannot do anything about these wounds, so why won't you just let me help you."- his words seemed to have an effect on the fox. Her stare changed from angry to confused with a slight sense of guilt.

She started to hesitate and to question her actions a bit. She looked at Kid. He was smiling at her with a warm smile and that made her feel a little embarassed. He tried to pat her again, but this time he actually succeeded- at first she hesitated a bit, but after she remembered his words about how he wanted to help her she made the decision to let him do it, though that still did not mean that she had changed her opinion on humans as a whole. When Kid put his hand on her head, she felt a little sense of warmth and safety, a feeling that no human ever gave her. She finally realised that he was very different than her other encounters.

He lifted her up with his hands and put her close to his body in a pleasant hug. She really enjoyed it. Then they both went to Kid's house where they could heal these wounds.


	3. chapter 3

chapter 3: Welcome home, Callisto

Kid finally arrived home and he was greeted by his partners the Thompson sisters. It did not take them long to see that this time has brought a special guest with him. Liz looked into his arms and she saw the fox:

-"Uh, Kid? Who is this?"

-"I found this fox on the street. She is wounded very badly and she needs treatment. I couldn't just leave her there."

-"Ooh, Kiddo has brought a fox. She is so cute!"-Patty expressed her child-like excitement.

-"She really is cute. But what happened to her? She is bleeding."- Liz saw her leg, which had a bloody piece of clothing wrapped around it.

-"I am not sure, but it is very likely that she has been attacked."

-"By who?"

-"Probably humans, since she showed great mistrust when she first saw me."

-"But you are a Death god."

-"She does not seem to know it."

-"I wanna pet her."- Patty said in a melodic tone.

-"I do not think that this is a good idea."- Kid warned her.-" When I first tried to pet her, she almost bit my hand. I am afraid that she might try to do the same with you."

-"But then she let you hold her."-Liz was confused. If the fox really forbid Kid to touch her, then why is she allowing him to hold her now.

-"I told her that I just want to help her and that I am not her enemy. After I said that she showed hesitation, I think that my words made her question her actions and have probably stimulated a desire to redeem herself."

-"Wow, who knows what happened to her to make her feel like that!"

-"We will discuss this later! Right now we need to take her of her injuries! Liz! Patty! Bring me a bowl of water, towels, a needle, threads and bandages."

Liz and Patty never wasted a moment and quickly brang everything Kid told them to. The three of them prepared to stitch the wounds. Firstly, they washed her leg. For the fox this whole treatment was another painful experience, since the water made her wounds sting pretty badly. But she trusted Kid and that was the only reason why she let him do it. Secondly, they dried it and started stitching the wounds, which was even more painful, but it was for her own good.

After hours of work, the whole treatment was finally done. The wounds were clogged and the bleeding stopped. The fox made a few steps to see how she can walk now after her pain was gone and was not bleeding anymore. Kid and the Thompsons watched her with joy. They were proud of themselves that they managed to help her. The new question was what were they going to do with her now?

-"So, now what? She is healed already. Are we...I don't know...going to set her free or...just let her stay here with us."

-"I am not sure either. I guess we should jut let her decide where she wants to stay."

The three of them sat on separate chairs and couches and started doing their own stuff (Patty was drawing, Liz was doing her manicure and Kid was reading), while watching how the fox was exploring the house:

-"She seems to like it here."-Liz made a note.

-"She does."- Kid agreed.

-"Hey Kid, are we gonna give her some name. I mean...we can't just keep calling her _"the fox"._ "

-"Well, why not! What do you suggest?"

-"Hmm, how about "Lisa"?"

-"This one is too easy and too obvious."-Kid quickly disagreed. He wanted to give her a better name. A name that was more rarely used and interesting. The name "Lisa" was not an option. In Bulgarian stories, the name "Lisa" is always given to vixen characters, since it is sounds much like the word "lisitza" which means "fox".-"How about "Kiva"?"

-"No way. This is one of the names I had picked for my future children."

-"I know. "Patty!""

-"But this is your name, Patty. How about Burdju?"-Liz wanted something exotic-sounding.

-"Exotic, but not that uncommon. How about Scheherezade?"-Kid thought it was a good reference.

-"Like the character from "1001 nights"?

-"Yes."

-"I don't think so. How about..."

-"Cookie!"-Patty quickly interrupted her sister.

-"I am not sure this is a real name, Patty. Just because you love eating them, does not mean you should name the fox like this."

-"Then "Kitty"!"

-"No, Patty!"- Kid and Liz said in union.

-"Hey I know! "Shakira"!"

-"This is already occupied, Liz. How about "Riza"?"

-"No, that's another name I had picked for my future children."

-"Callisto?"- that was apperantly the last option in Kid's mind. He was starting to get annoyed.

-"Callisto?! Well.."

-"I know! You had picked it for your future children."-he quickly interrupted Liz, without knowing what she was actually going to say.

-"No! I meant that I like the name."

-"You do?"

-"Yeah, sound pretty good. A nine-tailed fox, named Callisto. I like the idea."

-"Finally! Okay now, from now on her name is Callisto."


	4. Chapter 4

chapter 4: Callisto meets new friends

On the next day, Kid, Liz and Patty were preparing for school and right before they get out of the house, Callisto came down and appeared right before them. Appearantly she did not want them to leave her alone in the house, so she just kept following them. The three started to wonder what should they do about that:

\- Uhh Kid, what are we gonna do with her? It looks like she doesn't want to be left her on her own. Maybe she wants to come with us. Should we...I don't know...take her with us to school?

\- I am not sure, but she still needs some time, in order for her injuries to heal faster. Also, let's not forget her trust issues.- Kid was hesitating strongly, but then he saw that Callisto was already attached to his leg and refused to let him go. She seemed to enjoy being close to him.- On the other hand, taking her to meet new people might be what she needs, even though it is a little risky.

\- But you could keep an eye on her. She seems to be kind of obedient to you. I mean, she tolerates when you touch her.

Kid kept thinking, until he came to the conclusion that they should definetely take the fox with them, but she still would be under his supervision.

The threesome finally arrived and the moment they entered the building, they were greeted by Soul and Maka, who were on their way to the classroom:

\- Hey, Kid! Liz! Patty! Good morning!

\- What's up?

Not even a second passed before Maka noticed that this morning the ultimate trio were being accompanied by an interesting small guest:

-Uhh, who is this?

\- Kid found this fox on the street bleeding and badly injured, so he took her home. We all took part in her treatment and in the end we named her Callisto.

\- It's amazing! A genuine nine-tailed fox is standing right here in front of my eyes.

\- Yeah Maka, but I don't think you've noticed that this one is not exactly "nine-tailed".-Soul corrected her quickly.

Callisto stared at both of them with an annoyed expression on her face and at the next moment she stepped a few steps backwards and closer to Kid. This action made Maka feel a little confused. She thought that maybe she offended the guest somehow or maybe something else was bothering her.

Right after all of them arrived at the classroom they heard a loud voice. It was Black Star, who was doing what he does best- bragging again:

-Yahoo! Here I am, losers! The great and flawless Black Star! The one and only assassin, who can make even God feel like a loser!

The gang reacted with indifference, since they were completely used to his non-sense. Tsubaki, though felt a little embarassed and tried to apologize:

\- I am sorry, but you know how Black Star is.

\- Yes, we know.-they all responded at the same time.

Callisto, however was feeling quite annoyed at Black Star- she really disliked listening to him, but she did not attack him yet. She just wanted him to shut up (and can you blame her). Eventually, she felt a little tired and tried to get Kid's attention-she wanted him to pick her up and hold her in his arms, so she can have a little nap. Kid reacted quickly and he did exactly what she wanted. Feeling a bit curious, Tsubaki asked:

\- Hey, I have never seen this little fox before. Who is this?

\- That's Callisto. Kid, Liz and Patty are taking care of her. (Maka's words)

\- More like Kid's taking care of her. She won't let anyone else touch her. (Liz's words)

\- One of the reasons why we brought here with us. We thought that in this way she might learn to be more trustful and social. (Kid's words)

\- Did something bad happened to her? (Tsubaki's words)

\- Very likely! I found her on the street bleeding. She was in such a bad condition. So I took her home with me and put some bandages on her leg.

\- Ooh, the poor thing.

Eventually Black Star noticed that his friends were all together in the classroom, but they paid no attention to him and instead were looking at something else. Feeling kind of left out, he quickly joined the gang and started asking them questions:

\- Hey, what do ya think you're doing?! You were suppoed to pay attention to me. What can be more important than me?

They all looked at him with dull expressions. Black Star was a little confused and then he directed his eyes into Kid's arms. That was the moment when the "great blue-haired god" finally found out the reason why nobody was paying attention to him-it was because they were too busy talking about the fox in the black-haired boy's arms. The young assassin was very surprised by the view and he started to yell out of surprise:

\- HUAAAAAA... Hey, what is that? You brought a fox in here? Is it yours, Kid? Why did you bring her? Hey, wait a minute... Is this the reason you were ignoring me?! Is it?! HA, HA,HA... For real?! This little ferret can never be more important than me.

\- Black Star, shut up!-Kid tried to warn him. He was worried that Callisto may get angry.-You would make things worse.

Unfortunately for Black Star, Kid actually was right to worry. Callisto could hear everything that the young assassin was saying and his words were starting to get on her nerves. She raised her head and looked at him with an angry glare, but he ignored her, instead he kept shouting and insulting her. The other members of the gang also joined in the warnings:

\- Black Star, that's enough! Please stop!-Tsubaki was using her nicest tone, but with no success.

Callisto was now preparing to attack- she started to growl and bared her teeth, but at the moment she tried to assault the little show-off, someone already did the job. Maka pulled out a book and "Maka chopped" the annoying boy and he became as silent as a mouse. This caught the fox off-guard, she was surprised by this action, but not touched. Although, she was probably surprised enough to see a human that stands up to her and shut the mouth of the bully. She would remember this moment, but that still did not mean that she trusts humans, though she can at least change her opinion of them...a bit.

Everybody felt relieved and then they sat on their respective seats and waited for their teacher to come.


	5. Chapter 5

chapter 5: First day

Kid, Liz, Patty, Maka, Soul, Tsubaki and even Black Star sat on their respective seats. They all opened their books, with the exceptions of Soul, who was just standing with his hands behind his neck and Black Star who was exercising in writing his signature. Their teacher finally arrived in the classroom. The teacher was none other than professor Franken Stein who entered in his traditional way- he entered the classroom, while rolling on his chair, then falling down after only one turn. His students were used to this pathetic view, so they were neither amused or surprised, just bored. Callisto, on the other hand, find it to be actually pretty funny. She even giggled a little, but nobody noticed. Stein faced his students and started his lesson by introducing them to their newest candidate for dissection-a quoll. Everybody was very shocked by his choice of an animal. They have never seen a quoll before and they did not want their first encounter to be followed by dissection. Callisto herself, felt very angered. She saw the scared look on the quoll's face and she immediately made the decision to help the poor animal. She jumped on the desk, right in front of Kid. Of course, he was a little surprised by her action:

\- "Callisto, what is wrong?"

His question did not seem to affect her, since she showed no response. He noticed how angrily she stared at Stein. It did not take him too long to realise that she was preparing to attack his teacher. With his two bare hands, Kid grabbed her and tried to hold her close to him, but she was not ready to give up. Eventually, Stein felt the presence of a new creature in the room. He turned around slowly and saw a nine-tailed fox staring at him with bared teeth. He found it to be a pretty interesting surprise:

\- "Well, what do we have here?"- he smirked and looked right at Kid.- "Kid, did you bring this interesting being here?"

\- "Yes, professor!"

-" I am not sure that it is appropriate to bring pets here, but I have never seen a nine-tailed fox before, so I might make an exception."- his words made Kid feel a little suspicious. He knew that the professor was up to something and it was most likely to dissect Callisto. He was holding the fox tightly, not allowing anyone to get close to her. Then Stein revealed his intentions.- "An opportunity like this comes only once and we must not waste it. Who knows what lies inside her."

What a surprise? He did want to dissect her, but of course, Kid did not allow it. Luckily, the professor decided to not argue and he just focused on the quoll, who was actually missing. Unknowingly how, the animal has managed to set itself free and has even escaped. Nobody noticed how it happened, but Maka saw the whole thing. She saw how, with the help of magic, Callisto helped the quoll to escape, while Stein and Kid were arguing, but the girl decided not to tell. She thought that it would be a way of winning the fox's trust.

The rest of the day went normally, with no interruptions or problems. It was now lunchtime and the gang went to the cafeteria where Crona and Ragnarok were waiting for them:

-"Hey, Crona!"- Maka greeted her cheerfully.

-"Hey, Maka! Hey, Kid!"- Crona responded to her and then greeted Kid in a very quiet and bashful way, but Kid did not seem worried by this and instead he responded with a polite and friendly "Hello!"

Callisto noticed how Crona was looking at Kid and she found it to be kind of...suspicious.

-"Crona, I want you to meet Callisto."- Maka was very excited to introduce Crona to the newest member of the gang.- "She is a nine-tailed fox. Kid found her on the streets in a very bad condition and took her home with him."

-"She is a little bit better now, but not entirely."-Kid joined the conversation. Of course, by "not entirely" he meant her trust issues.-"We thought that she might adapt better if we take her with us today."

\- " _"A nine-tailed fox",_ eh? Well, she doesn't seem very _"Nine-tailed-ish"."_ \- Ragnarok joined as well. Appearantly he has noticed Callisto's lack of a ninth tail.

-"Ragnarok, no!"- Crona tried to silence him, but with Ragnarok being Ragnarok, he refused.

\- "Oh, come one, Crona! Don't tell me you didn't notice either!"

-"Crona"-Kid tried to calm her down.-"It's okay. Yes, she lacks a tail. She was already like this when I found her. This made me think that she must have had a terrible experience with humans and that might explain why she finds it hard to trust them. I cannot blame her-who knows what horror she has went through."

Crona felt very sympathetic towards the fox. She felt really sad when she heard this:

-" May I pet her?"- the girl asked innocently.

-" Probably not. She may bite you. She never allows anyone, but me to touch her. It's too early for this."

What happened next, really caught everyone off-guard. Callisto raised her head, looked at Crona and sniffed her a little. Crona was a little surpirsed by this, but she allowed it to happen. Then, the fox looked at the pink-haired girl's face and, unknowingly why, she leaned her head closer and stood like that silently. Nerviously, Crona put her hand on the animal's head and to the surpise of everyone else, the fox let the girl to pet her.

Everyone was very shocked by this. She has never permitted anyone else, but Kid to pet her. Liz find it incredibly interesting and thought to herself:"Maybe she is not just an animal."


	6. Chapter 6

chapter 6: Who says animals do not have souls too

Hard to believe, but it was a fact. Callisto actually let Crona to touch her head and pet her. Liz watched with amaze. She could not believe her eyes. "Maybe she is not just an animal" she thought to herself. Everybody was thinking probably the same thing.

While watching how the young pink-haired lady was petting the fox's head, Liz felt a slight sense of nostalgia. She remebered the times when both her and Patty were nothing more than just street rats. Two homeless teenage girls who had nowhere to sleep and they had no choice, but to use violence, so that they can survive. Those times changed completely when Kid appeared in their lives. He took them home, made them his weapons and the girls never looked back. Callisto was no different. This whole memory made Liz feel a little embarassed that she did not understand the fox's feelings before:

-"Hey Callisto!"- she tried to catch Callisto's attention and she succeeded. The fox turned her head in Liz's direction and waited to hear what the human woman was going to tell her. The answer kind of surprised her.-"Sorry about before! Welcome home and welcome to the gang!"- despite her usual attitude towards human beings, Callisto responded with a smile and her action alone brang warmth to Liz's heart.

During lunchtime, everybody was thinking about their new furry friend's recent change of attitude. What could have caused it? They were all eating their lunch and from time to time, they glanced at Callisto a little. Tsubaki was the first one to speak:

\- "Did you see what she just did? She allowed someone else, other than Kid, to touch her. Why? Did she change her opinion? Does she trust us now?"

-"Yeah, and did you see how she smiled at me? It was like she was thanking me."

-"To be honest, I sense something. Something in her soul. It feels like tranquillity and happiness."-Maka tried to look at what is hiding inside the fox's soul. She wanted to know the reason for her recent change.

-"Animals have souls too?"-Soul sounded kind of surprised. It was like he did not believe that animals are like that.

-"Appearantly they do have."-Maka answered

-"Animals are living creatures as well. Of course, they have souls."-Kid interfered. It almost sounded like he was a little offended by Soul's comment.

-"I'm not saying I didn't believe it, I'm just saying that I'm surprised. It's the first time I hear about this."-Soul tried to defend himself.

Everybody giggled. While Kid was feeding Callisto, Tsubaki also tried to give her something to eat and luckily, the animal accepted it. The whole gang seemed to be in a good mood today. They were all enjoying the day and were talking nicely to each other. Big smiles were lying on their faces. Callisto looked at them. She looked at how happy everyone was to be with each other and she smiled too.

She remembered Tsubaki's words about how she changed her attitude. Callisto was confused as well. She was not sure why exactly she decided to let Crona to pat her head. Then she remembered all the good things the gang did for her. She remembered how Maka defended her from Black Star's nasty insults, how Kid stopped her from getting in trouble, how she sensed the innocence and the feel of being a victim inside Crona's soul, how Liz welcomed her and last, but not least, how Kid saved her from her previous life and even her previous self. At first, she did not believe that what Maka, Liz and others did was that significant, but appearantly part of her appreciated it much more. The thing she appreciated the most was that Kid was there for her the entire time, ever since she met him. If he trusts these guys, then they cannot be that bad, right? Although, did that mean that she trusts them now? Maybe a little or actually enough to allow them to be close to her.

It is true, indeed. Animals do have souls. Also, due to the fact that Callisto was a nine-tailed fox (or eight-tailed), she had the ability to sense the souls of those around and even analyzing them, which was the reason why she accepted Crona's offer. She saw that Crona sees herself as a victim an failure. She saw a person who has been mistreated throughout her enite life. She then remembered how her own life started. In the end, she really felt sorry for the girl and decided to comfort her, by allowing her to caress her. As a "person", Callisto is not that violent or mean. She is actually pretty sweet and compassionate, but her tragic past sometimes prevents her from showing her true personality.

Feeling happy, the fox fell asleep in the young Death god's arms.


	7. Chapter 7

chapter 7: Witch Vulpesa

 _In this chapter, another original character of mine will be introduced. A greedy and a little indifferent fox-themed witch named Vulpesa. She is going to be the main antagonist in my fanfiction._

The news that lord Death's son has adopted a nine-tailed fox as a pet quickly spread throughout the whole city. It even reached areas outside of Death city, including witches' territories. One specific witch found it particularly interesting.

That witch was a tall and slender woman with pale skin, long scarlet red hair with brownish tips (so long it reached her ankles) and big Malachite green eyes. The woman was wearing a grey outfit. Her nails were long and sharp. She was almost completely barefoot. There was also a sly and sneaky smile on her face, which she was rarely seen without. The witch's name was Vulpesa.

Vulpesa was a very greedy and dishonest witch who usually prefers others to do the job for her. She rarely does anything by herself. Although, is it simply because she is lazy or is it because of something else... Despite that, she was shown to be a pretty powerful witch. She could demonstrate a huge amount of power when the situation called for it. Little do they knew was that big parts of her power did not belong to her.

For a long time, she has been trying to find some nine-tailed foxes, so that she can steal their power for her own personal gain. The only problem was that they were very hard to catch. She has never tried to catch one before, but she has heard that they are capable of doing magnificent things and are very hard to catch. That was why the witch has never tried to catch one by herself, but she could always send someone else to do the dirty work for her. Once, she send a group of men to find some nine-tailed foxes for her, though they never returned. She was starting to get impatient, so she went out to look for them, to make sure that they were not going to betray her and keep the bounty only for themselves. When she finally found them, she only saw their corpses who have had been burned alive and others had their throats sliced and were lying in rivers of blood. She did not react at all and was just curious if whether or not they have actually got what she has send them for. Luckily for Vulpesa, the hunters have successfully managed to kill some foxes and have even stolen their powers, but appearantly something have gotten in their ways, in the end. The witch was not very worried about the situation, since she already got what she wanted, but she desired much more.

True, the power that the hunters have selected for her was pretty strong too, but it was still not enough. In fact, even dozens of foxes would not have been enough to satisfy her hunger. Some would say that she wanted it all, but they would be wrong. She wants even more than all. She had a hunger for power that could never be satisfied. Her indifferent attitude often gave the impression that she was quite a lazy person (which she actually is), but she was also the type of person who would never rest, until she got what she desires. She was ready to steal the nine-tailed foxes' power at any cost. AT ANY COST!

There are a lot of things unknown about witch Vulpesa. What does she plan to do with all that power? Where is she going to start? How many foxes are in danger because of her?

Recently, she heard the news that Death the Kid, son of lord Death, had got himself a nine-tailed fox for a pet. She was quite excited about it. She decided to go to Death city, so that she can personally "congratulate" him.


	8. Chapter 8

chapter 8: Everything is great now...but not for long

Not long after the news was spread, many residents of Death city started to talk about Callisto the nine-tailed fox. They were talking about how was it possible that such a creature could be living on the streets for an unknown amount of time, what bad could had happened to her, how does she live now, et cetera.

Students of the Death weapon meister academy were gossiping about the situation as well. In no time, Callisto became pretty popular. A lot of girls wanted to see her, although the fox did not appreciate that much attention. Luckily for her, Kid knew that she found it stressful and always refused the girls' offers about petting Callisto or getting too close to her. Poor vixen was still not ready for that kind of attention.

At times, there were also a few girls who wanted to see Kid himself, instead of Callisto. They were often trying to flirt with Kid, but Callisto did not allow them. She did not like that there were girls who liked Kid in that way. She had a different idea about which girl would be a better mate for her master. _Wink, wink!_

On a Saturday morning, the whole gang went out to play a little basketball and then they would go to have a picnic somewhere in the forest. The game was nothing too special. It was a normal basketball game between our heroes. During the first few minutes of the game, Callisto was just sitting nearby and was watching them silently. She did not look bored, she was more like confused. It looked like she was thinking about something. When she finally decided that she has waited long enough, she joined the gang in their game. Everybody was very surprised. They did not expect her to join, but they let her stay anyway. While Black Star was hitting the ball, Callisto appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere, and took the ball, using her paws and her tails. The vixen showed some pretty impressive skills at playing basketball. She even managed to beat Black Star. While the blue-haired assassin was showing loudly his frustration, everyone else was very amused by the final result. They did not expect her to be this good, neither that she can actually play any sports:

\- "Wow, who thought that _"ms. Grouchy"_ here is actually a skilled athlete.- Liz expressed her amaze vocally.

-"I agree. She seems to be full of surprises."- Maka joined. First they all saw Callisto's slow change of attitude towards human beings (the moment when she allowed Crona to pet her) and now they see her showing a desire to enjoy herself, together with the gang. Who knows what would happen next!

Later that same morning, Kid, Liz, Patty, Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, Black Star, Crona and Callisto went to the forest to have a picnic together. All different kinds of food were put. There was sushi, shrimps, hamburgers, onigiri and many others. Tsubaki has cooked most of them and they seemed to taste good, judging by Ragnarok's reaction. Callisto wanted to try some too:

\- "Oh! Are hungry?"-Tsubaki noticed that the fox had an interest in tasting her food.-"You can have some, if you want. Here, have a little of this"- she gave the animal an onigiri. Callisto reached to Tsubaki's hand and took the onigiri that she was holding. She ate it and found it to be pretty delicious:

\- "You like it?"- Tsubaki asked and Callisto nodded in response.-"Wanna have some more?"-Callisto nodded again.-"Here, try this!"-the girl gave the canid a sushi. She ate this one too and enjoyed it.

Everybody was watching how the fox was accepting Tsubaki's food enthusiastically. It may seem like nothing special to most people, but they specifically found it to be a pretty sweet picture. Little things matter, after all. They were all glad to see how Callisto was beginning to act more casually among them, it was like she has known them in a long time. Kid was looking at his vixen with a warm and pleasant smile on his face. He was feeling very proud. It appeared that everything was perfectly fine. Nobody thought that there is even a slight possibility that something (or someone) could ruin it. But they were wrong?

What they did not know was that one witch was coming closer, and closer and that she had very sinister intentions. While the others were having casual conversations, Maka felt something in her. She felt some kind of presence. Kid looked at her and quickly realised that something is bothering her:

-" What is it, Maka?"

-" I felt something. It was like we are not alone here. Can you feel it too, Kid?"

-"Actually, I do. I sense a...witch."

The others have probably heard what Kid and Maka were talking about because they stopped talking and looked at them. They were all wondering what was happening. Callisto, though, felt very worried. Just like Kid and Maka, she could sense the witch's soul. A powerful and ill-intentioned witch's soul. Her worry quickly changed to defense mode-she stood on her four legs and took a defense pose:

-"Callisto, what is wrong?"-Kid noticed that Callisto was not taking the situation well.

-"What is it, girl?"-Maka noticed as well.

-"Can you feel it too?"-Kid asked her.

Everybody looked at each other. Black Star was prepared to fight. Tsubaki was worried. Soul was a little confused, Patty had no idea what was happening. And Lizand Crona were scared.

Suddenly, the feeling disappeared. It was like the presence has just vanished. Kid, Callisto and Maka could not sense anything more now. One moment the feeling was here and in the next moment it was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

chapter 9 _: Investigating the case!_

 _There was a witch in the forest?_

The next day, everyone was in their respective houses and flats. It was a calm and pleasant day and everybody wanted to relax mostly on their own. Death the Kid, although had other plans for the day.

He still was very curious about what happened in the forest yesterday. He decided to investigate a little, but not before checking the house's condition. He was looking at every angle in every room, in order to make sure that everything was "precise and perfect". While he was minding his own business, Callisto heard the noise he was making and she decided to check him. When she entered the room which he was in, she saw him analyzing his favourite painting. Appearantly, he was wondering if whether or not the painting was leaning more to the right or to the left. For most people, this seemed annoying, but Callisto was not very familiar with Kid's obsession with perfection and symmetry, so she was actually curious about what was happening:

-"Okay, I am sure that it is leaning more to the right. I can see it. It is that obvious. I told Liz so many times!"- Kid was thinking out loud, until he noticed that Callisto was standing right next to him.-"Oh, Callisto, my dear! You are here! Perfect!"-He was very happy to see her. He thought that the two of them can fix the picture's symmetry together.-"You can help me fix this monstous abomination that must not mangle the view."

Callisto did not pay much attention to what he said, but she did stay and tried to help him to lean his favourite painting more to the left, in order to satisfy him. She did not understand at all what he was trying to achieve, but she thought that it would be worth it, if it is going to make her master happy. They finally moved it to the left and Kid was already done with his "duty", which was probably more important than what happened in the forest yesterday. The vixen herself was just happy that he was happy:

-"Okay now, Callisto! Now it is time to go! Come with me!"- he ordered her politely.

Callisto followed him and went in the same direction he went, which was the forest. The same forest the gang visited yesterday. She was not surprised that they returned to that place, because even she was wondering what was going on too:

-"Yesterday, both you and me, and Maka, felt someone else's presence in that exact spot. We sensed the soul of a witch. The question is why did she disappear just like that. After we sensed her. After we realised that the soul was a witch's soul. It felt like she did not want us to see her. What do you think? Do you think that it is at least a little bit suspicious?"-Callisto nodded as a sign of agreement.-"I think it is suspicious as well. We know that that witch was real and it was not just a feeling. The presence was way too strong.

Meanwhile, Maka and Crona went to Kid's house to pay a visit. They pushed the button of the doorbell, but it was not Kid the one who opened the door. It was Liz:

-"Good morning, Liz!"-Maka cheerfully greeted her.

-"Yeah, good morning!"-Crona greeted as well, although more quietly.

-"Crona...I mean WE were wondering if wheter or not Kid would like to come with us to the cinema."

-"Sorry, girls, but he is not here right now."-Liz said in a calm and a little bit worried tone.-"I don't know where he is. This morning he was going on a _"Death the Kid mode"_ as usual, so I ignored completely what he was saying he was going to do."

The news disappointed Maka and Crona, but they remained polite:

-"Well, thank you for sharing, Liz!"-Maka smiled and after Liz shut the door, she and Crona went to the cinema on their own.

Crona was really disappointed that she did not manage to see Kid today. Of course, Maka immediately noticed her friend's sad expression, so she tried to comfort her:

-"I am very sorry, Crona! I know how much you wanted to spend some time with Kid and how much you wanted him to see your newest...uh. What was it again?"

-"My poem."

-"Oh, yes! Right! Your poem. Right! _(No wonder I forgot what it was.)_ Actually, do you have any suggestions about where he could be now? I am a little curious about what he could be doing so early in the morning."

-"I am not sure. Maybe he went to check on something."

-"For example?"

-"I do not know. Maybe...he was...curious about what happened yesterday...while we were on picnic."

Crona's suggestion caught Maka off-guard. Then, she suddenly remembered that they did feel something. They felt a witch's soul coming close to them. With Kid being the curious individual he really was, it would make perfect sense for him to return back to the same spot, in order to find out more about it. The two girls decided to go to the forest, just to make sure that their theory about Kid investigating that spot was true. Because, who knows?

Kid and Callisto were still analyzing that same spot. They were looking for footprints or the same soul wavelength. Callisto was sniffing around, in case the intruder has left any specific smells. The fox managed to find something. She smelled a bit of the witch's sent in the air. Then, she barked to Kid, so as to signal him about her discovery:

-"What is it, girl? Did you find something?"-Callisto nodded and sniffed again, in order to show him that she caught some of the witch's sent.-"You smelled something? Are you sure it is the smell of the same witch?"-and she nodded again.-"This confirms that she really was here. Good job, dear!"-he congratulated her and she smiled.

They kept looking for any more clues, until Kid spoke:

-"What could a witch be doing in the middle of the forest, at a moment when a group of students of the DWMA were having a picnic? Accompanied by a nine-tailed fox? Or as it is in this case-an even more beautiful, perfectly symmetrical eight-tailed fox, if we want to be more specific. I do not think that it is just a coincidence. Especially, after she ran away when we sensed her. She must be hiding something. A secret plan, maybe. First, we need to find out whom she was. But how? How are we going to do it?"- he looked at Callisto and she looked at him. Then, Kid added-"Or maybe, we should just wait. After all, we have nothing we can start with. For now, we can only be more careful, since there is a possibility that someone might be after us."-Callisto nodded. She realised that Kid was right about that. They really had nothing.

Kid sat down on the ground and Callisto lied on his lap. He put his hand on her back and started to caress her slowly and gently, while she was lying. For a while, they stayed quiet and were doing pretty much nothing, but enjoying each other's company. They were just sitting there and watched the view. Finally, Kid broke the silence and spoke:

-"Remember how we used to wish that you could speak?"-out of curiosity and surprise, Kid's question made Callisto raise her head and she looked at him.-"When we first met you, we wanted to find out what happened to you. That was one of the reasons we wished for that (for you to speak). But I suppose that it was also because we wanted to understand you better. Now I do not think that you have to speak, in order for us to understand you. When I look at you, I feel like I can see your feelings and your thoughts. It feels like that just your face, your movements, your actions-they are enough to understand you. Right now, I know that you feel relaxed when you are close to me."- she kept looking at him and smiled a bit.-"I hope you know that you can always trust us. We will always help you when you need to. Always."-Kid smiled at her and Callisto smiled back. Out of happiness, she started to lick his face. Although flattered, Kid jokingly told her to stop.-"Callisto! Stop it! This is not very sanitary! Stop!"

Suddenly, Callisto stopped, after she heard a small sound. It was the sound of a little stick being broken and then followed by footsteps. Kid and his fox both looked in the direction the sound came from. They waited to see who caused to sound and they saw that it were Maka and Crona who caused it.


	10. Chapter 10

chapter 10: Callisto takes things in her own paws

It were Maka and Crona who caused the sound. Kid and Callisto felt a little releaved. For a second they thought that the witch has came back. Crona and Maka were also glad that they ran into Kid and Callisto. Appearantly, the theory about the investigation turns out to be true. They really did come back to the same forest:

-"Hey,Kid!"-Maka was the first one who spoke-"What are you two doing here? Crona supposed that you would be investigating what happened yesterday."

-"That is correct, Maka"-he looks at Maka and then his glare swifts to Crona-"and Crona."

After hearing that, Crona blushed a little. She felt kind of flattered or maybe excited that she successfully guessed what was happening. In her eyes, it looked like she showed that she knew Kid quite well and that this increases her chances with him. Everybody, but Kid, noticed her reaction. Callisto, pretty much knew what was going on inside Crona's head. It was obvious that the pink-haired one was into her master. She smiled in a sly and a _"know-it-all-like"_ manner.

Shortly after that, the three teenagers started discussing their theories. Like before, Maka was first:

-"So did you manage to find anything? Any clues? Proof?"

-"Unfortunately, no. We could not find anything at all, but we think that there definetely was a witch here yesterday. The fact that she ran away, after hearing that we have sensed her, cannot be just a coincidence. After all, we were a group of DWMA students and a nine-tailed fox. I am sure that we would look like a nice prey in the eyes of a witch. Or a _kishin egg_ , at least?"

-"This could be true. Even without any actual evidence, this forest is not much safe anymore. What if one day she returns?"

While the three teenagers were discussing the dangers of the forest and of a potential stalker, Callisto was just looking at them without paying much attention to what they were saying. For some reason she did not find the view to be pleasant- Maka, Crona and especially Kid all seemed very worried. She disliked seeing them in this light. She thought about a way to cheer them up. She thought, and she thought, and then it hit her-a few metres ahead, there was a beautiful waterfall that was surrounded by gorgeous wildlife. She always went there for comfort when she was a bit younger. She thought that may be it will make her friends better. It would worth, at least to try.

She gave a short barked to attract their attention. At first, they did not hear her and when she gave two more barks, they finally looked at her. She kept barking and started to run in the waterfall's direction. She immediately stopped, she turned her head towards them and barked again. The meisters were wondering what she was trying to tell them, but they followed her.

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

**chapter 11: Beware of the power of Vulpesa-part 1**

Kid, Maka and Crona finally arrived at the place which Callisot wanted to show them. After the vixen stopped walking and turned her head against them, she sat on the ground. It was like she was saying _"We are here."_ The three mesietrs all raised their heads to see where they were at and they saw a big beautiful waterfall. They were all amazed by the view and as a result they all smiled:

-"Callisto, is this what you were trying to show us?"-Kid asked her and she nodded, in order to tell him that he guessed.

-"It is beautiful!"-Maka was really enjoying it.

-"It's...it's..."-Crona wanted to express her amazement too, but she was too embarassed.

Callisto ran again. She rushed into a cave that was right behind the waterfall. Kid and the girls saw her where she was going. She made them a gesture to follow her and so they did. They entered the cave and once they were in, they saw that it was very warm and quiet inside it. It was a pretty comfortable place to stay, even for long stayings. And the floor was also pretty smooth (even soft) and it was not as hard as a cave is supposed to be. Kid was curious about how Callisto could have known about this place:

-"Callisto! How did you know that there was such a cave behind the waterfall? And how did you know where to find it?"-of course, there was no way that she could answer him, even if she wanted to. Despite this she tried to think of a way to explain it to him, but while she was thinking, Kid already found out the answer all by himself, after he saw how she was looking at the cave. There was a sense of nostalgia in her eyes.-"Wait! There is no need to tell me!"-she looked at him, out of curiosity and waited for what he was about to say.-"This is your home, right?"-and she was very amazed by his theory, because it was completely acccurate.-"This is where you lived, before I found you on the streets. You have been living here all alone. For a long time. Because it is a very isolated place. Nobody knows about it. And in that way, nobody can find you. And nobody can hurt you."

Tears came out of the fox's eyes. This was probably the first time when somebody actually understood her. She did not even need to say anything. Kid just knew. When Kid saw her tears, he took her in his arms and embraced her. The view made Crona and Maka's hearts melt:

-"Thank you for showing us this place, Callisto. It is wonderful. Maybe we should all come here someday. It is the perfect place for spending time with your friends without being bothered by anyone. Not to mention that the view is amazing. This waterfall is beautiful."

Maka and Crona got closer to Kid and they patted Callisto on the head, in order to show their gratitude. But alas, their mutual joy was put to an end when the three meisters started feeling very dizzy:

-"I think that I might have a headache."-Maka did not look very well. She was holding her head with her hands and she was having trouble with staying on her legs. Kid and Crona were feeling the same. Callisto was the only one who did not feel anything. She was looking at her friends, while trying to figure out what was happening. A few seconds later, the meisters' condition got worse. They all started having hallucinations- they were acting pretty weird and sometimes they were showing very atypical behaviour.

After seeing this, Callisto finally began to realise what was happening, because she had the power to cause the exact same thing. Nine-tailed foxes can make people have strange hallucinations, but not all members of the species can do this. Only the most powerful (with the most tails). Due to having only eight tails, Callisto's powers were limited. She herself was not sure if she could do it as well. Which is why she rarely used them. She usually used her teeth and her claws.

But right now, what she thought did not matter. Her friends were in trouble and she had to do something to help them. She decided to enter their hallucinations, in order to stop them. She started with Kid. Using her powers, she entered his consciousness to see what he was seeing right now. After she entered, she saw that Kid was sitting on his knees and holding his head with his hands, while saying _"I am sorry. I am useless."_ He was feeling guilty about something. Callisto turned around to see what was the reason and she saw the corpses of Crona, Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz and Patty were all lying on the ground. They were killed and it Kid thought that it was his fault that he could not protect them.

To be continued...


End file.
